Apparatus for applying welting to a shoe component

ABSTRACT

Continuous welting, in sequence, is wetted with cement which is dried to provide a bonding stratum, is metered out to provide slack increments each equal in length to the perimeter of a shoe component, is advanced together with the perimeter of the shoe component through the nip between a pair of pressure applying wheels, is heated at the nip to reactivate the bonding stratum which causes the welting to adhere to the perimeter of the shoe component, and is severed at incremental demarcations. The wheels are designed specifically to advance the marginal edge of the shoe component and the welt through the nip and to apply pressure across any cross-sectional portion in the nip notwithstanding differences in the peripheral thicknesses of the shoe component.

United States Patent 1 Decoulos July 23, 1974 1 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING WELTING TO A SHOE COMPONENT [75] Inventor: John Decoulos, Peabody, Mass.

[73] Assignee: Boston Machine Works C0., Lynn,

Mass.

22 Filed: June 28,1973

[21] Appl. No.: 374,508

52] us. Cl. 112/67 K I' [51] Int. Cl A43d 45/00 [58] Field Of Search 12/1 W, 20, 59.5, 67 R, 12/67 K [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,195,304 8/1916 Wentworth 12/67 K 2,652,166 9/1953 Johnson 12/595 3,099,026 7/1963 Reid 12/595 i1lliulllllllHlHllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllll llllllllllllllll lllllllllllll e Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson Attorney, Agent, or FirmMorse, Altman, Oates &

[5 7 ABSTRACT Continuous welting, in sequence, is wetted with cement which is dried to provide a bonding stratum, is metered out to provide slack increments each equal in length to the perimeter of a shoe component, is advanced together with the perimeter of the shoe comspecifically to advance the marginal edge of the shoe component and the welt through the nip and to apply pressure across any cross-sectional portion in the nip notwithstanding differences in the peripheral thicknesses of the shoecomponent.

' 9 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED 2 E174 v sum 1 or 7 |liw==i ll 7 FIG. I

PATENTED Z 31974 "FIG. 3

PATENTED L2 1 74 SHEET 5 BF 7 PATENTEB JUL 2 3 I974 I FIG. 6

PAYENTEU Jul-231974 3.824.543

SHEET 7 BF 7 m I 8 8 o a I 8 Q E l 00 i I, (\I N cu 9 O 9 cu F m i R X FIG. 8

FIG. 7

11 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING WELTING TO A snos COMPONENT BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the manufacture of SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the present invention is to provide devices and processes by which continuous welting, in sequence, is wetted with cement which is dried to provide a bonding stratum, is metered out to provide slack increments each equal in length to the perimeter of a shoe component, is advanced together with the perimeter of the shoe component through the nip between a pair of pressure applying wheels, is heated at the nip to reactivate the bonding stratum which causes the welting to adhere'to thelperimeter of the shoe component, and is severed at incremental demarcations. The wheels are designed specifically to advance the perimeter of the shoe component and the welt through the nip and to apply pressure across any cross-sectional portion in the nip notwithstanding differences in the peripheral thicknesses of the shoe component, the upper one of the wheels being peripherally knurled in order to present a high friction surface and the lower one of the wheels being of relatively great diameter in order to present a wide peripheral are capable of spanning irregularities in the perimeter of the shoe component.

Other objects of the present invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the processes and devices, together with their steps, components and interrelationships, which are exemplified in the present disclosure, the scope of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: A

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for performing a process of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the se quence of steps involved in the process of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a subassembly of the apparatus of FIG. 1, taken substantially along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of another subassembly of the apparatus of FIG. 1, taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1, with parts broken away for clarity;

2 FIG. 5 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of a subassembly of the apparatus of FIG. 1, taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view,'partly broken away, of the subassembly of FIGS;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation, analogous to that of FIG. 4, illustrating one mode of operation; and

FIG. 8 is a front elevation, analogous to that of FIG. 7, illustrating another mode of operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In accordance with the present invention, the weltin g typically is composed of a natural resilient material such as leather or a synthetic resilient material such as polyvinyl chloride. Initially the wet cement is composed of a synthetic elastomer, such as neoprene of polyurethane, dispersed in an organic solvent. The cement is applied and dried at a temperature ranging from 125 to 200F. The cement is reactivated at a temperature ranging from 125 to 200F.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show free welting at 32, a welt supply spool at 20, a cement applicator at 22, a drying tower at 24, a slack regulator at 26, a pair of pressure applying wheels at 28, 30, applied welting at 32, a shoe component at 34, a cement reactivator at 36, and a welt cutter at 38. All of the operating components are mounted on a suitable base 18, which is in the form of a table. This table has a flat top 19, below which are foot controls that permit manual handling of shoe components freely above the table top.

Welt supply station 20 is in the form of a freely rotatable spool 40 that is journaled on a suitable support 42. From spool 40, welting 32 enters a gluing station 22, which is of a type typically comprising a wheel 44, the upper portion of which contacts the welting and the lower. portion of which is immersed in a supply 46 of cement. Drying tower 24 includes a series of pulleys 48 at its upper and lower extremities and defines a conduit, heated by electrical panels, through which hot air is blown.

Slack regulator 26 is best shownin FIG. 3. From the drying tower, the welting emerges past a pulley 50 and a pulley 52, both of which are fixed with respect to the base. Mounted on base 18 is a motor 54, which drives a pulley 56. Welting extends from pulley 52 around pulley 56 and through the nip between pulley 56 and a wheel 58. As shown, wheel 58 is journaled for rotation on a link 60. The lower extremity of link 60 is pivoted at the base of motor 54. The upper extremity of link 60 is urged in the direction of pulley 56 by a tension spring 62 that is stretched between link 60 and a link 64 that is fixed to motor housing 54. Also mounted for rotation on link 60 are a pair of pinch wheels 66, 68, between which the welting extends from the nip between pulley 56 and wheel 58. From the nip between wheels 66, 68, the welting extends to a pulley in a downward direction. Pulley- 70 is rotatably journalled on a link 72, which is pivoted at 74 so as to be able to meter out an increment of welting of an appropriate length for application to the shoe component perimeter, shown at 76 after extending past a pulley 77. In the operation of slack regulator 26, ordinarily motor 54 is inoperative so that welting 32 is fixed between in the nip between pulley 56 and wheel 58 and in the nip between wheels 66, 68. The forwardmost portion of the welting extends from the nip between wheels 66, 68

i I I 3. past tension pulley 70 to welt applicator 37. When pulley 70 is in its lowermost position, as shown by in full lines, an increment of the welting is available forvapplication to the shoe component perimeter without further metering by motor 54. As this welting is fed to the gized in order to meter out a further incrementof welting32. At this time, pulley .70 returns to its lowermost position and link 72 rotates in a clockwise direction into its most clockwise position. In order to damp undesired oscillations of links 72, 78, screws 80, 82, 84 are provided at adjustable locations on links 72, 78. Screws 80, 82 are adjustably located on opposite sides of pivot 74 by suitable locks associated with slots in link 72. Screw 84 is located by a suitable threaded collar on a screw, which is affixed to and moves with a link 78.

Details of the welt applicator are shown in FIG. 4. The welting extends from pulley 77 into the channel of a heating element 36 in such a way that the'lower portion of thewelting, on which the dry cement is coated, is heated by a jetof hot air that originates in a hot air heater 88 and is ducted through suitable conduits 90 and 9,2. The welting advancing through guide 36 to the nip between knurled top drive wheel 28 and smooth bottom adaptor wheel 30 is applied, as shown in FIG. 7, to the upper margin of a shoe component or the like. This shoe component is manually positioned in the nip against an inner guide wheel 94. Guide wheel 94 is journaled on a bracket 96, which in turn is mounted on base 18. Thus, guide wheel 94 and guide wheel 28 are journaled about axes, which are fixed with respect to base 18. As shown, the axis of guide wheel 94 is perpendicularand the axis'of knurled wheel 28 is horizontal. v

' Adaptor wheel 30 is biased into an uppermost position by a spring 98 and is driven in all positions by a drive chain 100, the arrangement being as follows. Mounted on base 18 is a bracket 102 on which is pivoted one end ofa link 104. At the other end oflink 104 is journaled adaptor wheel 30. Adaptor wheel 30 is journaled on a shaft 106 which also carries a sprocket 108. A sprocket 110 is keyed to the shaft 112, about which link 104 pivots. Sprockets 108, 110 are meshed with drive chain 100. It will be observed, in FIGS. and 6, that drive wheel 28 is driven directly through chain and sprocket gearing 114 and that sproket 110 is driven from gearing 114 through a shaft 116. The arrangement is such that sprocket 110 is driven by sprocket 108 through chain 100 no matter what the position of adaptor wheel 30. At the end of the cycle with the welting having been applied throughout perimeter 76, air actuated knife 38 severs the applied increment of welting from the remainder of the welting. Depending from shaft 106 of adaptor wheel 30 is a link 118, the upper extremity of which is pivoted to shaft 106 and the lower extremity of which is pivoted to a foot pedal 120 that, in turn, is pivoted to base 18. Foot pedal 120 is depressed by an operator to enlarge the nip between press wheel 28 and adaptor wheel 30 in order to facilitate introduction of shoe component 34 into the nip.

OPERATION In operation, an operator steps on foot pedal in order to depress adaptor wheel 30 so that a platform or other shoe component 34 can be introduced into the nip between adaptor wheel 30 and drive wheel 28. Thereupon, pedal 120 is released so that the perimeter of the component is gripped between the lower and upper wheels with its edge abutting against guide wheel 94. After manual introduction in the horizontal plane, the rim of the shoe component is pulled by wheels 28, 30, with welting 32 in contact with its perimeter. Welting 32 extends from supply spool 20 throughcement applicator 22vand drying tower 24 .to slack regulator 26 where a metered length of welting, sufficient to extend about the periphery of shoe component to be welted is provided. The length of this metered increment is determined by the operation of mercury switch 80, which operates each time a'given length of welting is needed in response to the condition of slack in the welting increment. At the end of the welting step, knife 38 is actuated by knee-switch 120 to sever the next increment-of welting from the welting just-adhered to the shoe component. r

The present invention this provides a novel process and apparatus for applying welting to the margins of a shoe component in such a way as to minimize effort while maximizing efficacy. Since certain changes may be made in the foregoing disclosure without departing from the scope of the invention herein, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for applying welting to a shoe component, said apparatus comprising a base, a supply spool on said base for a length of said welting, a cement applicator on said base for applying cement to a surface of said welting, a dryer on said base for drying said cement on said surface to provide a coating, a slack regulator on saidbase for metering predetermined increments of said welting, a drive wheel and an adaptor wheel on said base defining a nip .therebetween, a heater at said nip to activate portions of said coating as said welting advances in said nip, and a knife on said base for severing said welting at said nip.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said heater directs hot air to said coating.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said drive wheel has a knurled periphery.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said adaptor wheel is larger than said drive wheel in diameter.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the axis of said drive wheel is fixed with respect to said base and the axis of said adaptor'wheel is movable with respect to said base in order to permit adjustment of the size of said nip.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the axis of said adaptor wheel is resiliently biased toward the axis of said drive wheel.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said wheel is driven.

8. An apparatus for applying welting to a shoe component, said .apparatus comprising a base, a supply adaptor spool on said base for a length of said welting, a cement applicator on said base for applying cement to a surface of said welting, a cement applicator on said base for ap- -of said coating of cement as said welting advances in said nip, and a knife on said base for severing said welting at said nip, aaid knife being reciprocable between an operative position at which it severs said welting and an inoperative position at which it is remote from said welting, a link having a pivot at one end thereof, said link having a journal at the other end for said adaptor wheel, said pivot having a first shaft having an axis that is fixed with respect to said base and a second shaft having an axis about which said adaptor wheel rotates, a first gear keyed to said first shaft and a second gear keyed to said second shaft, a chain meshing with said first gear and said second gear, said drive wheel being joumaled on a third shaft, having an axis fixed with respect to said base, and an electric motor, said electric motor driving said first shaft and said third shaft, whereby a shoe component between in the nip between said drive wheel and said adaptor wheel is gripped therebetween and advanced therealong in order that said adaptor wheel. 

1. An apparatus for applying welting to a shoe component, said apparatus comprising a base, a supply spool on said base for a length of said welting, a cement applicator on said base for applying cement to a surface of said welting, a dryer on said base for drying said cement on said surface to provide a coating, a slack regulator on said base for metering predetermined increments of said welting, a drive wheel and an adaptor wheel on said base defining a nip therebetween, a heater at said nip to activate portions of said coating as said welting advances in said nip, and a knife on said base for severing said welting at said nip.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said heater directs hot air to said coating.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said drive wheel has a knurled periphery.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said adaptor wheel is larger than said drive wheel in diameter.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the axis of said drive wheel is fixed with respect to said base and the axis of said adaptor wheel is movable with respect to said base in order to permit adjustment of the size of said nip.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the axis of said adaptor wheel is resiliently biased toward the axis of said drive wheel.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said adaptor wheel is driven.
 8. An apparatus for applying welting to a shoe component, said apparatus comprising a base, a supply spool on said base for a length of said welting, a cement applicator on said base for applying cement to a surface of said welting, a cement applicator on said base for applying cement to a surface of said welting, a dryer on said base for drying said cement on said surface to provide a coating, a slack regulator on said base for metering predetermined increments of said welting, a drive wheel and an adaptor wheel on said base defining a nip therebetween, a heater at said nip to activate portions of said coating of cement as said welting advances in said nip, and a knife on said base for severing said welting at said nip, aaid knife being reciprocable between an operative position at which it severs said welting and an inoperative position at which it is remote from said welting, a link having a pivot at one end thereof, said link having a journal at the other end for said adaptor wheel, said pivot having a first shaft having an axis that is fixed with respect to said base and a second shaft having an axis about which said adaptor wheel rotates, a first gear keyed to said first shaft and a second gear keyed to said second shaft, a chain meshing with said first gear and said second gear, said drive wheel being journaled on a third shaft, having an axis fixed with respect to said base, and an electric motor, said electric motor driving said first shaft and said third shaft, whereby a shoe component between in the nip between said drive wheel and said adaptor wheel is gripped therebetween and advanced therealong in order that variable thicknesses of the shoe component cause separation of said adaptor wheel from said drive wheel while maintaining advancement of the perimeter of said shoe component through said nip.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the diameter of said drive wheel is less than one-tenth the diameter of said adaptor wheel. 